northwestern Idaho - best place to live? (Coeur d'Alene, Lewiston: house, university)

[solitary sister]

I live in eastern Idaho and would like to get out of the desert,
but want to stay in Idaho.

Is there such a place as this:

milder winters (generally above 30 degrees).
not too much snow - a few inches is fine.
winters not too long (spring comes in april instead of late may).
not such DRY summers.
jr college or university close by.
small town around 10,000 population.
reasonable housing ($150 K for 2000 sf house on 1/2 acre).

thanks!

[cleosmom]

I'm not thinking you can meet your wishes and still live in Idaho.

[millagerobert]

Try the towns from Kamiah to Lewiston along the Clearwater River, elevations from 1200 to 700 feet, so you stay out of the snow. Sea run Steelhead and Salmon, Next to large swaths of Public ground, lots of nice country people. If you want an Idea of property cost go to our website Idaho Land and Home - Kamiah Idaho and use the mls search tool.

[solitary sister]

thank you so much!

[stingraynm]

I, too, would recommend a lot of the towns along the Clearwater for most of your criteria to be well met, but the confounds in your criteria are the mild winter and lack of desert. Pretty much anywhere in Idaho that gets out of the desert will have a sub-freezing winter, including Kamiah, which was otherwise a great recommendation. In my time living in Moscow and travelling every which-a-way, I don't recall even the lower elevations along the Clearwater being an escape from sub-freezing temperatures, though it was always warmer than the mountains and Palouse to the North and South. If you adjusted your temperature criterion to "lows above 15 degrees", then there are a lot of great places in Idaho to fit your other criteria to a tee. Rarely below 30 degrees in the winter is just something you won't find in Idaho, unless you're only talking about daytime highs.

[ejay]

Moscow or Lewiston would be your best bet but lewiston is hotter than moscow in the summer. You could also try Deary or maybe Santa...

[stingraynm]

Originally Posted by ejay

Moscow or Lewiston would be your best bet but lewiston is hotter than moscow in the summer. You could also try Deary or maybe Santa...

'Fraid I disagree, ejay.

Moscow, Deary, and Santa are beautiful areas, but once again the cold is a confound. All three of those places have sub-freezing winters, varying precipitation (from lots of snow to almost none) from winter to winter, and a week or so in January that goes sub-zero. Ideal for someone who wants to escape the desert, but not for someone who hopes to escape freezing winters.

As for Lewiston, it's on the Clearwater river, but the area is otherwise desert. It has close proximity to forest/mountains/Palouse on all sides, though.

Personally, I wouldn't want to live in Lewiston due to the Potlatch pulp plant, which makes a very unpleasant smell and creates winter inversions. Many locals get used to it, but it's not for me.

[fearnofish]

Originally Posted by solitary sister

I live in eastern Idaho and would like to get out of the desert,
but want to stay in Idaho.

Is there such a place as this:

milder winters (generally above 30 degrees).
not too much snow - a few inches is fine.
winters not too long (spring comes in april instead of late may).
not such DRY summers.
jr college or university close by.
small town around 10,000 population.
reasonable housing ($150 K for 2000 sf house on 1/2 acre).

thanks!

Well Coeur d'Alene meets some of those but they do have a longer winter that is cold most of the time. As for the population CDA is above that but you can go to Rathdrum or something.
Give CDA a try and see what you think.